Monthly Archives: November 2011

Medicaid provides vital services to people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (I/DD) and has been described as a lifeline with good reason–not only is Medicaid a health insurance program, but for many it provides food, clothing, and a place to live. Medicaid provides the services of Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) who do so much to support individuals living in the community as independently as possible. Medicaid provides day programs, pre-vocational and career services. And Medicaid is jobs–jobs for those who provide services to the I/DD community.

Did you know that Koinonia is 98% government funded, and that 90% of our funding comes from Medicaid? Medicaid is what allows us to do what we do to serve people with I/DD.

Arbitrary cuts to Medicaid or block granting of Medicaid would threaten people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities by reducing or eliminating services in a system that is already stretched.

On Wednesday, Oct. 26, the Ohio Psychological Association (OPA) honored Koinonia and seven other companies as the recipients of its ninth annual Psychologically Healthy Workplace Awards. Koinonia was also a recipient of the state award in 2005 and 2006 and won the national award from the American Psychological Association in 2007.

After an application was submitted to the OPA, a panel of OPA members conducted a site visit. Koinonia’s workplace was evaluated on five areas: employee involvement, employee growth and development, health and safety, employee recognition and work-life balance. Among other factors, Koinonia was noted for its excellent formal and informal communications systems and its proactive approach to making documentation of services provided more accurate and efficient.